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The year was 1846. James Polk was in the White House. The country went to war with Mexico. Closer to home, the original village of Dearborn, near the old Detroit arsenal at Michigan and Monroe reverted to unin-corporated status. Also that year, private education began in this area. Farm families in what is now northeast Dearborn had few choices when it came to formal education. The nearest schoolhouses were Miller School at Lois and Michigan and the Scotch Settlement School at what is today Warren Avenue and Asbury Park.
These schools presented several problems, among them their locations. One was the distance involved going to school (grandparents' stories of walking to school 10 miles uphill both ways through two feet of snow in the summertime aside). A second problem with these schools was they were not in the school district serving the Schaefer-Warren area. The Scotch Settlement School was in Dearborn Township, not Greenfield Township, where these families lived. Dearborn Township had its own set of school districts. Miller School was in the same township as this area, but still in a different school district. Another problem involved the language barrier. The school taught subjects in English. These were all German families, most recent immigrants from Europe.
Seeing the need for formal education for their youngsters, Peter Joseph Henn approached Peter Joseph Esper, his neighbor, about possibly establishing their own school. Interest among the residents in a local German school grew quickly. Esper donated some land on his farm on the north side of Warren for a school where Bingham street is now. A log cabin was erected by the farmers for some traditional German-Catholic education. Joseph Heller, who had been a teacher in Germany, was hired as the first schoolmaster. Parents paid 40 cents per month tuition. Subjects taught were German reading, English reading and arithmetic.
The lob cabin fell into disrepair after only a few years. By 1855, the schoolhouse was in such bad shape that Fr. Francis Xavier Roth, pastor of the recently formed St. Alphonsus Parish, had a frame school build onto the three-year-old church building. In 1862, a two-story brick school was built on the south side of Warren near the church at Gould and Calhoun. This schoolhouse remained until 1921, when the first unit of the current school campus was built. Initially, only the first floor of the school was used for instruction. The nuns lived on the second floor until a convent was built in 1890. After this, grades 1-4 used the first floor. Grades 5-8 then used the upper floor. The school used a succession of male teachers until the Sisters of St. Agnes of Found du Lac, Wis., came and took over responsibility for the school in 1880. In 1897, the Sisters of St. Agnes resigned. Three Sisters of St. Dominic came from Adrian, Michigan to take charge of the school. The Dominican nuns continue on staff today.
In 1914, the students who would become the first graduates from St. Alphonsus High School entered the first grade. At that time, the school had an enrollment of about 50. Most studies were still conducted in German at the time. Use of German diminished during World War I because of the United States' being at war with Germany.
The first unit of the current campus opened in 1922. This is what is now the northern half and middle section of the high school. It was dedicated Sept. 24, 1922, by Bishop Gallagher. Realizing additional space would soon be needed, a high school wing was built to the south. Architects kept the building symmetrical with the other half, repeating everything except the middle section. Construction began on the high school section as soon as the first part of the building was completed. In fall 1922, grade 9 was added. Additional grades were added successively until the first high school graduating class, numbering four in all, finished grade 12 in 1926. In that first graduating class were Viola Anna Horger, Ruth Rose Horger, Josephine Mary Horger and Leo Edward Bloink. Fr. John Klich was appointed pastor in 1923. He oversaw the completion of the high school wing plus the building of a new convent, rectory and church. When the high school auditorium was completed in 1925, church members realized the new auditorium would serve as a better church than the existing sanctuary, particularly in seating capacity. Until the current church was completed in 1929, parishioners used the school auditorium for services. The old church was then converted into additional classroom space and a gymnasium. When the new church opened in 1929, the auditorium was named Fr. Klich auditorium. The school building was completed in 1926 and served grades 1-12. Also that year, the school building on the south side of Warren was razed.
Following World War II, enrollment in the public schools in east Dearborn diminished, but grew at St. Alphonsus. A separate elementary school was built between the existing school and Schaefer in 1953. the former church (cira 1872) was razed in 1956 so a new Activities Building could be built. The Activities Building has a gym with a full stage on the side. The existing auditorium was then converted into the current high school cafeteria. Next on the construction agenda was an addition to the elementary school in 1963, complete with an overhang so as to not interfere with the limited parking.Two years ago, St. Alphonsus formally added kindergarten classes.
Partly reproduced from: Sesquicentennial for St. Alphonsus School by Richard Marsh Press & Guide Newspapers, April 11, 1996 Click here to see St. Alphonsus Historical Marker information
Click here to read Fr. Quaine's Homily on the occasion of the 150 anniversary of St. Alphonsus School
Click here to view important dates in the history of St. Alphonsus Schools
